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Abstract:

According to one example embodiment a storage medium having computer
instructions which, responsive to being executed by at least one
processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations. The
operations can include analyzing data from data sources of an
internet-protocol television network where the data provided by the data
sources includes set-top-box data having voice over internet protocol
usage for a plurality of subscribers of the internet protocol television
network in a geographic area and correlating video provisioning
information obtained from the data sources, individual subscriber channel
viewing information, internet-usage data, subscriber data and demographic
data to produce correlated information. The operations can include
generating one or more reports associated with the plurality of
subscribers in the geographic area based on the correlated information.
Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims:

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer
instructions which, responsive to being executed by at least one
processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations
comprising: analyzing data obtained from data sources of an
internet-protocol television network, wherein the data obtained from the
data sources includes an aggregate of network usage data determined from
set top box data comprising voice over internet protocol usage for a
plurality of subscribers of the Internet-protocol television network in a
geographic area; correlating video provisioning information obtained from
the data sources, individual subscriber channel viewing information,
internet-usage data, subscriber data and demographic data to produce
correlated information; generating one or more reports associated with
the plurality of subscribers in the geographic area based on the
correlated information, wherein the one or more reports comprise property
information, geographic information, and time information; and processing
the property information, the geographic information, and the time
information of the one or more reports to enable content provider
equipment to retrieve additional data about viewing groups identified
from the plurality of subscribers.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the
aggregate of network usage data includes information identifying programs
and television commercials shown and includes video-on demand program
category information.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the
correlating further comprises correlating the set-top-box data and
content server data, wherein the video provisioning information further
includes information identifying the programs and the television
commercials shown on each channel during different time periods and
includes television category information, and wherein the set-top-box
data comprises digital video recorder usage information, channel change
information and channel viewing time information.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the
analyzing of the data further comprises analyzing the data based on
market research results comprising one of profession, income, or race
distribution in at least one geographic area.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the
internet protocol television network provides services to a plurality of
set-top-boxes adapted to output set top box data in the form of video
service usage information.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, comprising
computer instructions which when executed by the at least one processor
cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising
predicting future video usage information for one or more geographic
areas.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, comprising
computer instructions which when executed by the at least one processor
cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising
presenting a user interface enabling selection of a viewing level of the
data based on a regional level, a market level, or a zip code level.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, comprising
computer instructions which when executed by the at least one processor
cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
detecting a selection of the viewing level; and presenting the selected
view level.

13. A method comprising: collecting, by a server comprising a processor,
data from at least one of a set top box, a subscriber database, a
demographic database, a content server, or an internet-access data
source, wherein the set top box and the content server have access to an
internet protocol television network, and wherein the collected data
comprises an aggregate of network usage data for a plurality of
subscribers in a geographic area of the internet protocol television
network, processing, by the server, the collected data to provide
geographic viewing levels; and generating, by the server, a report
associated with the plurality of subscribers, wherein the report
comprises property information, geographic information, time information,
and the aggregate of the network usage data for the plurality of
subscribers in the geographic area of the internet protocol television
network; processing, by the server, the property information, the
geographic information, and the time information to enable content
provider equipment to retrieve additional data about viewing groups
identified from the plurality of subscribers.

14. The method of claim 13, comprising predicting, by the server, future
video usage information for one or more geographic areas, wherein the
predicting is based on the report.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the aggregate of network usage data
includes information identifying programs and television commercials
shown and includes video-on demand program category information.

16. A system comprising: a memory storing computer instructions; and a
processing system coupled to the memory, wherein the processing system,
responsive to executing computer instructions, performs operations
comprising: receiving aggregate network usage data for a plurality of
subscribers in a geographic area, the plurality of subscribers identified
by a subscriber database, wherein the aggregate network usage data
comprises a number of the plurality of subscribers and a volume of
content consumed by the plurality of subscribers and wherein the
aggregate network usage data is determined from set top box data;
processing the received aggregate network usage data to present data for
a plurality of geographic viewing levels, wherein each of the plurality
of geographic viewing levels is adapted for being categorized differently
for at least two different types of data consumers; and generating one or
more reports associated with the plurality of subscribers identified by
the subscriber database, the one or more reports comprise property
information, geographic information, time information, and the aggregate
network usage data for the plurality of subscribers in the geographic
area.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the processing system
responsive to executing the computer instructions, performs operations
comprising enabling equipment to retrieve information from the one or
more reports comprising one of viewing groups, viewing time, popular
television channels, pay-per-view selections, video-on-demand selections,
size and demographic information of viewing groups, or combinations
thereof.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the processing system responsive to
executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising
receiving queries relating to one of viewing time periods, background
information of viewers, popular programs and channels, viewing group size
and locations, popular commercials, effectiveness of past television
commercials or combinations thereof.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the volume of content consumed by the
plurality of subscribers is determined from a number of multicast
channels in each geographic area that provide content services to
equipment of the plurality of subscribers.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the processing system responsive to
executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising
receiving retrieval requests from content provider equipment for
additional data about viewing groups.

Description:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 11/486,852 filed Jul. 13, 2006 which is incorporated herein by
reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0002] The subject matter relates to the field of television distribution
and programming, and more particularly to methods and systems including
monitoring, reporting and provisioning television content and
distribution.

COPYRIGHT

[0003] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains
material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has
no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent
document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and
Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all
copyright rights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software
and data as described below and in the drawings that form a part of this
document:

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0004] Recently, IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) has attracted many service
providers' attention to provide live TV programs and video-on-demand
(VoD) services. The inherent flexibilities on top of an IP-based video
service network can facilitate advanced and flexible video services (such
as picture-in-picture), high quality pictures (high-definition TV), and
large amount of information (large number of TV channels).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] FIGS. 1-3 illustrate an Internet-protocol television (IPTV) system
according to one embodiment of the inventive subject matter hereof;

[0006] FIG. 4 illustrates a method of monitoring, analyzing and predicting
IPTV video services according to one example embodiment of the inventive
subject matter hereof;

[0007] FIG. 5 illustrates different categories of information presented to
viewers according to still another example embodiment of the inventive
subject matter hereof;

[0008] FIG. 6 illustrates an IPTV video service monitoring and
provisioning architecture according to still another example embodiment
of the inventive subject matter hereof;

[0009] FIGS. 7-10 illustrate user interfaces and data views according to
still other example embodiments of the inventive subject matter hereof;
and

[0010] FIG. 11 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a computing
platform according to still other example embodiments of the inventive
subject matter hereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the
accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by
way of illustration specific embodiments in which the inventive subject
matter can be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be
utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the
scope of the present disclosure. The leading digit(s) of reference
numbers appearing in the Figures generally corresponds to the Figure
number in which that component is first introduced, such that the same
reference number is used throughout to refer to an identical component
which appears in multiple Figures. Signals and connections may be
referred to by the same reference number or label, and the actual meaning
may be clear from its use in the context of the description.

[0012] According to various example embodiments, the disclosed subject
matter described herein provides video service monitoring and
provisioning services for IPTV networks. Such embodiments may include the
capability to provide more monitoring and rating information with
different categories, viewing levels, and timelines. Further, the target
users of such information may include not only IPTV content providers,
but also IPTV advertisers. The monitoring results, information
prediction, and content provisioning may also be customized for different
groups of users. In addition, monitoring and prediction results may be
based on all the subscribers instead of sampling results from a subset of
all subscribers. Further, according to one example embodiment, the
monitoring may be used to provide customized video services from IPTV
content providers and TV advertisers.

[0013] According to other example embodiments of the disclosed subject
matter, there is provided methods and systems to monitor, analyze, and
predict subscribers' viewing habits and interests. The results of the
monitoring, analysis and prediction may be, for example, used to provide
customized video content and IPTV advertisements that are delivered to
IPTV viewers. Further, the methods and systems may be used to obtain
accurate IPTV subscriber usage information that may be: i) used to manage
the network traffic and guarantee IPTV video service quality; ii) used by
the content providers to retrieve subscribers' viewing interest and
enhance TV program quality; and iii) used by TV commercial advertisers to
understand the subscribers' interests and viewing habits so as to improve
marketing campaigns, advertising sales, and relationships with networks.

[0014] Referring to FIGS. 1,2 and 3, there is illustrated schematic
diagrams depicting a configuration of an IPTV network 100 in accordance
with one embodiment of the inventive subject matter hereof. As shown in
FIG. 1, the network 100 includes a super hub office (SHO) 110 for
acquisition and encoding of video content, one or more video hub offices
(VHO) 120 in each demographic market area (DMA), one or more intermediate
offices (TO) 130, one or more central offices (CO) 140 located in each
metropolitan area, and finally the subscribers (S) 150, which may be
located in single or multiple dwelling units. In one example embodiment,
the network 100 may be connected through a plurality of high speed
communication links 160 using physical transport layers such as fiber,
cable, twisted pair, air or other media.

[0015] In one example embodiment, of the IPTV video delivery system, the
SHO 110 distributes content to the VHOs 120 which may be spread across a
wide geographic territory, such as an entire country. The SHO 110 may,
for example, be in a central location for acquisition and aggregation of
national-level broadcast TV (or linear) programming A redundant SHO 110
may be provided for backup in case of failure. The SHO 110 may also the
central point of on-demand content acquisition and insertion into the
IPTV network. Linear programming may be received at the SHO 110 via
satellite and processed for delivery to the VHOs 120. On-demand content
may be received from various sources and processed/encoded to codec and
bit-rate requirements for the communication network for transmission to
the VHOs 120 over the high-speed communication links. VHOs 120 are the
video distribution points within each demographic market area (DMA) or
geographic region.

[0016] Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated in more detail an example
network architecture 200 between the CO 140 and the subscriber 150. A
serving area interface (SAI) 210 is connected to the CO 140. SAI 210 may,
for example, be located in a weather-proof enclosure proximate the
subscriber premises, and may include FTTN equipment. FTTN equipment may
also be located in the CO 140. Customer premise equipment includes (CPE)
220, for example, a network interface device (NID) and a residential
gateway (RG) 230, for example with a built-in VDSL modem or optical
network termination (ONT). In both cases the RG 230 may be connected to
the rest of the home set top boxes (STBs) 240 via an internal network
such as an Ethernet. Each STB 240 has an associated remote control (RC)
250 that provides data entry to the STB 240 to control the IPTV
selections from the IPTV data streams. According to one example
embodiment, a STB 240 may be a stand-alone unit capable of, for example
but not by way of limitation, receiving video inputs and producing video
outputs, receiving user inputs for changing channels (using one or more
buttons on the box or the RC 250) or displaying the number of a selected
television channel. In an alternate embodiment, a STB 240 may be formed
using a personal computer or other such multi-purpose computing device,
for example using one or more plug-in cards that can provide the required
capabilities of a STB.

[0017] Referring to FIG. 3, which illustrates one example embodiment of a
configuration according to the inventive subject matter, a SHO server 310
may be used to acquire national content that may be distributed towards
the VHOs 120. In an alternative embodiment, live television content may
be acquired using a server in the VHOs 120. In this configuration, the
VHO 120 may include a live television server 320 and a video server 330,
which forward the live television and/or other content toward the
subscriber through the intermediate offices (IOs) 130 and the central
office (CO) 140. A VHO 120 may also include application systems 340,
regional subscriber database systems 350, and VOD servers 360. The COs
140 are connected to the IOs 130 to further distribute traffic towards
the subscribers 150. Traffic may reach the subscribers 150 at least
partially via either fiber to the node (FTTN) or fiber to the premises
(FTTP), or by other types of transmission medium.

[0018] As also illustrated in FIG. 3, television server 320 distributes a
plurality of live television programs, each typically associated with a
television "channel," using a multicast IP protocol data stream 370
through the IOs 130 and COs 140 to the subscribers 150. The routers,
switches and other network elements that would normally be present in the
IOs 130 and COs 140 are not shown in FIG. 3 in order to simplify the
drawing. The number of programs or channels sent in the multicast stream
may, without limitation, range up to 800 channels or more using present
technology with it being understood that advances in technology may allow
many more channels to be sent. The multicast protocol allows for
efficient distribution of these signals to a large number of end
subscribers. In addition, the video server 330 receives the multicast
data stream 370 and distributes selected ones of the live television
signals, extracted from the stream 370, using a unicast data stream 380a,
380b and 380c, to specific subscribers 150. In this embodiment, video
server 330 may provide a unicast stream, for example in burst mode, of a
specific live television channel to any of the subscribers served by the
VHO 120. The burst mode instant channel change data stream can be
discontinued once the subscriber's system is loaded with enough TV
program data so that the multicast stream can "catch up" and take over
supplying the program data stream in the multicast mode for more extended
term viewing by the subscriber.

[0019] As noted above, live IPTV streams are usually delivered based on
the IP multicast protocol. The full range of multicast addresses is from
324.0.0.0 to 339.255.255.255. That is, the number multicast streams on
top of the Internet can be 16*255*255*255. This provides service
providers enough flexibility to deliver different levels of video content
for the same TV channel to a large number of subscribers. Further, as the
TV streams are delivered based on IP multicast, the backbone traffic
increase will at most be (L-1)*N*B irrespective the number of subscribers
(except subscriber-specific content), where L is the number of service
levels, N is the number of channels which we provide service
differentiation and B is the per-stream bandwidth consumption.

[0020] According to one embodiment of the disclosed subject matter
illustrated in FIG. 4, there is provided a method 400 of monitoring,
analyzing and predicting IPTV video services. Information is collected
405 for different viewing groups, including at least the following
different geographic viewing levels: national 410, regional 420, city
430, and/or Zip code 440. At 445, the information is used to monitor,
analyze, categorize and predict IPTV video services. As illustrated in
FIG. 5, for each viewing level, different users (content providers or TV
advertisers, network engineers or others) may be presented with different
categories of information. For example, the monitoring architecture 502
can provide information 500 to one or more content providers 505, who may
retrieve information 500 about one or more of the following alone or in
combination: viewing groups 510, viewing time 515, popular TV programs
520, pay-per-view (PPV) usage 525, video on demand (VoD) programs 530 (or
channels), and/or the size and/or demographic information of viewing
groups 535. One or more IPTV advertisers 540 may retrieve information
575, such as the viewing time period 545, background information of the
viewers 550, popular programs and channels 555, viewing group size and
locations 560, popular commercials 565, and/or effectiveness of past TV
commercials 570, and more. Based on this information, content providers
and IPTV advertisers can maximally utilize the flexibility of IPTV and
provide customized content delivery services.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 6, there is illustrated one example embodiment of
IPTV video service monitoring and provisioning system 600. A data
collection and analysis server 602, with one or more data storage systems
604, may collect data inputs from different portions and locations of
IPTV service network, including the set top box (8TB) 605, located at the
premises of subscribers of the IPTV service network. While only one 8TB
605 is illustrated, it shall be understood that it is representative of
more than one, if not a great many, 8TBs 605 of the IPTV service network.
The 8TB 605 provides the subscribers' 8TB identification (ID), a unique
ID 607 for each 8TB 605, as well as the video service usage information
for the subscriber, including, for example, digital video recorder (DVR)
usage, video-on-demand (VoD) service usage, channel change information,
and/or channel viewing time information.

[0022] A subscriber database 610, for example located in a service network
office such as the 8HO 110 or VHO 120, provides subscriber background
information, such as address, profession, income, for each 8TB 605, for
example indexed by 8TB ID 607. A subscriber may use more than one 8TB
605, and therefore more than one 8TB 605 may be associated with each
subscriber.

[0023] A demographic database 615 is further provided, and includes
additional demographic information based on market research results, such
as the profession, or income, or race distribution in some geographic
area, such as geographic area defined by zip code, city, state or other
parameters.

[0024] A content server 620, such as but not limited to servers 320, 330
and 360, provides information about video provisioning information, such
as what programs/TV commercials are shown on each channel during
different time period, the TV or VoD program category information (drama,
sci-fi, music, news, etc). By correlating this information with
subscribers' channel viewing information, each subscriber's viewing
habits and interests may be determined

[0025] Network usage information 625 is also collected, for example from
one or more components of the IPTV service network. Network usage
information 625 may provide the number of multicast channels in each area
that is being used to support broadcasting TV/pay-per-view, the number of
unicast streams to support VoD, and any other desired network usage
information available from the network. Further, Internet access and
usage information for each subscriber may also be collected from an
Internet access or usage data source. The Internet usage may be obtained
from an Internet access point in the network such as a router, switch or
computing system provided in the network between the subscriber's
dwelling and the Internet, and may include information concerning the web
sites visited by the subscriber or other information on other Internet
resources used by the subscriber.

[0026] In addition, voice over IP (VoIP) usage information 630 is also
collected for each subscriber.

[0027] Video usage analysis and prediction software 640 is operative on
server 602, and processes and correlates the information obtained from
the various sources described above. According to one embodiment, the
server 602 may download and store or archive information collected from
the various system components, or alternatively download and process the
information in real time and store only the results of the processing, or
any combination thereof The analysis and prediction software 640 can
obtain the TV programs/commercials (drama, comedy, news, etc.) viewers'
backgrounds, addresses, viewing time, and any other desired data or
information from the components of system 600. According to another
example embodiment, based on the past TV viewing dynamic data, the
software 640 can predict the future video usage information for each
area. The analysis and prediction results may include at least the
following three different dimensions of information, for example used for
viewing the information: (i) by information property; (ii) by
geographical-level; or (iii) by timeline. The dimension of information
property may include one or more of the following: (i) IPTV subscribers'
background information (Demography, gender, age, profession, average
household income, etc.); (ii) IPTV channel/program provisioning
Information; (iii) VoD provisioning Information; (iv) subscribing
information; (v) TV channel/program viewing time and STB usage
information; (vi) TV channel change information; (vii) VoD/PPV/ DVR usage
information; and/or (viii) TV commercial viewing information.

[0030] According to one example embodiment, the output of the analysis and
prediction software 640 may be customized to IPTV content providers and
advertisers. For example, IPTV content providers may be provided with a
user-interface 700, served by the software 640, as illustrated in FIG. 7.
As illustrated, interface 700 allows a user to select view level 710, a
region 715 (e.g., Midwest or state in region), a market 720 (e.g. a
city), or a zip code 725.

[0031] After choosing a view level (such as national level), according to
one example embodiment, the view 800 of information illustrated in FIG. 8
may be presented to the IPTV content providers by software 640. The view
800 shows the current view level and its sub-view levels' current status
for each information category. The detail information for each category
may be presented in different windows.

[0032] For example, after clicking an information category (such as on the
TV Program Information), the user interface 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 may
be shown for national level view. For the summary of overall program
viewed, the information may be shown in the view 1000 illustrated in FIG.
10, in which each color represents different categories of programs.

[0033] According to one example embodiment of a method according to the
disclosed subject matter, based on the output of the software 640,
content providers and TV advertisers can provide different set customized
programs and TV Ads to different group of people so as to enhance their
revenue from providing content services or TV Ads. For example, if some
area residents spent most of the time watching sports games, it may be
better to provide them with more sports related product information or
sports game information. If some area people are comparatively wealthy,
TV advertisers may provide more high-end products information than other
areas. If some area has more young couples, they may prefer more
adventure, or sci-fi programs.

[0034] Accordingly, by using the flexibility of IPTV, the above-described
methods and systems may obtain the video viewers' living and viewing
habits, perform analysis and prediction, and help video service
providers, content providers, and TV advertisers to provider better
service and market campaign.

[0035] Thus, according to one example embodiment, the systems and methods
described herein may provide IPTV viewing information with different
information categories, view levels, and timelines without the direct
involvement of subscribers. Further, the monitored and predicted
information can facilitate IPTV content providers and advertisers to
customize video content services (so as to provide better service and
market campaign). Still further, the information provided can be based on
all the subscribers' accurate results instead of sampling data results.

[0036] FIG. 11 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the
example form of a computer system 1100 within which a set of
instructions, for causing the machine to perform anyone or more of the
methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternative
embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be
connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment,
the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine
in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a
peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a
personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal
Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a network
router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of
instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken
by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the
term "machine" may also be taken to include any collection of machines
that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of
instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed
herein.

[0037] The example computer system 1100 includes a processor 11 02 (e.g.,
a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or
both), a main memory 1104, and a static memory 1106, which communicate
with each other via a bus 1108. The computer system 1100 may further
include a video display unit 1110 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)
or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1100 also includes an
alphanumeric input device 1112 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control
device 1114 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1116, a signal generation
device 1118 (e.g., a speaker), and a network interface device 1120. The
disk drive unit 1116 includes a machine-readable medium 1122 on which is
stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g.,
software) 1124 embodying or utilized by anyone or more of the
methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1124 may
also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory
1104 and/or within the processor 1102 during execution thereof by the
computer system 1100, the main memory 1104 and the processor 1102 also
constituting machine-readable media. The instructions 1124 may further be
transmitted or received over a network 1126 via the network interface
device 1120 utilizing anyone of a number of well-known transfer
protocols, for example the hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP).

[0038] While the machine-readable medium 1118 is shown in an example
embodiment to be a single medium, the term "machine-readable medium"
should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a
centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and
servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term
"machine-readable medium" may also be taken to include any medium that is
capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for
execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform anyone or
more of the methodologies of the present disclosure, or that is capable
of storing, encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or
associated with such a set of instructions. The term "machine-readable
medium" may accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to,
solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and carrier wave
signals.

[0039] In this description, numerous specific details are set forth.
However, it is understood that embodiments may be practiced without these
specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits, software,
structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to
obscure the understanding of this description. Note that in this
description, references to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that
the feature being referred to is included in at least one embodiment.
Further, separate references to "one embodiment" in this description do
not necessarily refer to the same embodiment; however, neither are such
embodiments mutually exclusive, unless so stated and except as may be
readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the
inventive subject matter may include any variety of combinations and/or
integrations of the embodiments described herein. Each claim, as may be
amended, constitutes an embodiment of the inventive subject matter,
incorporated by reference into the detailed description. Moreover, in
this description, the phrase "exemplary embodiment" means that the
embodiment being referred to serves as an example or illustration.
Further, block diagrams illustrate exemplary embodiments herein. Also
herein, flow diagrams illustrate operations of the exemplary embodiments
of the disclosure. The operations of the flow diagrams are described with
reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the block diagrams.
However, it should be understood that the operations of the flow diagrams
could be performed by embodiments of the disclosure other than those
discussed with reference to the block diagrams, and embodiments discussed
with reference to the block diagrams could perform operations different
than those discussed with reference to the flow diagrams. Additionally,
some embodiments may not perform all the operations shown in a flow
diagram. Moreover, it should be understood that although the flow
diagrams depict serial operations, certain embodiments could perform
certain of those operations in parallel.

[0040] Further, although the present specification describes components
and functions implemented in the embodiments with reference to particular
standards and protocols, the disclosure may be not limited to such
standards and protocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other
packet switched network transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP)
represent examples of the state of the art. Such standards are
periodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having
essentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and
protocols having the same functions are considered equivalents.

[0041] Although the inventive subject matter has been described with
reference to several example embodiments, it may be understood that the
words that have been used are words of description and illustration,
rather than words of limitation. Changes may be made within the purview
of the appended claims, as presently stated and as amended, without
departing from the scope and spirit of the inventive subject matter in
all its aspects. Although the inventive subject matter has been described
with reference to particular means, materials and embodiments, the
inventive subject matter is not intended to be limited to the particulars
disclosed; rather, the subject matter extends to all functionally
equivalent structures, methods, and uses such as are within the scope of
the appended claims.